


Love Boat of Science

by Neverever



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance, merman!Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 01:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1038588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony finds more than he planned or could ever imagine when he sets sail on a marine science expedition he dubs "the Love Boat of Science."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Boat of Science

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a big fan of merman!Steve and was recently inspired to write this little fic. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
> 
> Big thanks as always for my beta.

Tony did not envision, plan, develop, endorse or encourage the Love Boat of Science. It just happened. Of course, it all started from an idea that brilliant, wealthy marine scientist and engineer Tony Stark had as an afterthought one day. Just after he learned he had won a contract to investigate the environmental impacts of wrecks around the Bahamas. Tony just had to bring Bruce in on the fun. After all Brucie was second only to Tony when it came to marine science. 

Bruce jumped at the offer – who could turn down a three-month research trip, all expenses paid and science up to the gills? – then he sheepishly asked if he could bring his girlfriend, marine biologist Betty, along. Tony could not deny the man at all. It would be a happy little boat with just Tony, Bruce and his really-smart-at-science girlfriend and the crew. Cutting-edge science during the day, stories and drink and great company at night. Honestly, a man could not ask for more.

Then Tony heard from Thor, a meteorologist needing an opportunity to collect data about sea storms. It broke his heart to hear Thor’s desperation. Hey, we’ve all been there, Tony thought, thinking back grimly on his own dissertation research days. Thor got his berth. Then Thor asked about his girlfriend, an astrophysicist in between adjunct teaching gigs. Tony at least had the presence of mind to ask what an astrophysicist would be doing on a boat. “My lady Jane has great plans to undertake the writing of three articles, with hopes of publishing in important and noble journals. She has much data to analyze and requires only a little space for her study,” Thor assured Tony. Tony shrugged and said sure, why not.

Now he knew why not as he nursed his beer while he leaned – alone - on the railing of the fishing boat and looked over the sparkling ocean under the moonlight. His fellow scientists were whooping it up inside the main cabin swapping stories of lab experiments gone wrong. Two of the boat crew, an amazing redhead, Natasha, and her partner in crime, Clint, listened on in amusement. Now, Tony had no idea what was going on being those two, but given his luck they were probably having a secret, passionate love affair. Tony thought he had found a kindred soul in Captain Fury. But as all the guests sorted out their living arrangements, that old salt Fury, with eye patch and all, said with unexpected emotion how he would miss his wife and grandkids. Yes, they were setting sail on the Love Boat of Science and Tony was the stowaway destined for lonely bachelorhood.

Tony knocked back his beer. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to find his own special friend to bring along. But for some strange reason, he couldn’t convince a single one of his vast stable of celebrities, lingerie and underwear models, supermodels, and the like to come along. He had one tentative lead, a lovely man he had met at a fashion show a while ago, but the man pled that he had to wash his hair, a lot, when he found out that Tony was not taking his fabulously outfitted marine research vessel, yacht really, but instead would be hiring a commercial fishing boat. Tony was not going to beg, and so he ended up alone. But alone by his choice, always the better way to be, really.

And for the record, it was not his choice to rent Captain Fury’s boat. But his best bud Rhodey pointed out that Tony would be working in dangerous waters and did not want to attract more attention than necessary from the bad people out there. Tony thought he was talking nonsense. But then his own boat’s engine developed a worrying wheeze and tendency to unpredictably stop working. The combination of good advice, common sense, contract terms and crushing structural problems ended his plans. Fury told him he was damn lucky that Fury was available.

All in all, Tony just had to suck it up and roll with it until the trip was over. He had important work to do and these were his friends. They were all tons of fun and meant well. And they didn’t tease him too much about being a celebrity playboy and the only one without a date. Just because it was him and his hand in a boat with thin walls, it didn’t mean he couldn’t be pleasant about sailing on the Love Boat. 

So really, no one should have thought that he was pouting or possibly even sulking when he left early on a survey trip of wrecks in the vicinity. And stayed out all day, when it was likely not safe to be alone. Tony did not care. He had been around boats and sailed on the sea all his life. He was just fine, him and his sandwiches, heavy metal music, and GPS survey equipment. He ventured far enough away that the fishing boat was just barely visible on the horizon. And that’s how he spent the day. But he finished up early and the pout had faded so he was up for seeing his colleagues again. He powered up the motor and headed home.

He pulled alongside the fishing boat and secured his smaller boat. It was late afternoon and he wondered where everyone was. Usually Betty and Jane were out on deck, reading journals, analyzing data, debating the finer points of their scientific fields. Or Clint and Natasha were inspecting fittings and whatnot. Bruce should at least be puttering around. The other odd thing was the caution tape on the hatch cover on one of the fish holds.

Well, this was just a bunch of nonsense and where in hell did they find caution tape in the middle of the ocean? Tony’s initial thought was that something was broken and a little investigation would not hurt. He tore off the tape and opened the hold cover. He could not see anything, since of course the hold was not lit since fish did not need light. He shut the cover and went looking for a flashlight, which he found in a handy deck tool box. He opened the cover again and swept the flashlight back and forth trying to see why anyone would have put the tape on the cover. He jumped back when the light exposed the angriest pair of blue eyes he had ever, ever seen.

Clint ran over and kicked the cover back over the hatch. “Yeah, don’t do that, Tony.”

“What the hell was that?” Tony exclaimed.

“You gotta ask Bruce. He’s down in the engine bay.” Clint pointed vaguely in the direction of the lab. “I have to secure the hold again.”

Bewildered and vastly curious, Tony made his way down to the engine. Bruce had a small table set up in the only empty area of the bay. Betty was sitting pensively with Bruce as Bruce was working on his computer. Before Tony could ask about what he saw in the hold, they heard a series of heavy, loud thumps coming from the forward hold, which was located on the same level as the engine bay. Bruce looked very weary.

“What’s going on, Brucie?” Tony asked as nonchalantly he could. “What’s that noise?”

“240 pounds of very unhappy merman. He’s been methodically trying to find a weakness in the hold.”

“To escape,” Betty added. 

Merman? Tony was speechless for a second. “How did this happen?” The thumping got louder.

“While you were gone, Betty and I wanted to do soil samples and check the metal of the wrecks around here for weaknesses. So I asked Natasha to winch up that section of hull we scouted out yesterday,” Bruce started.

Betty continued, “She positioned the hull over the deck so we could investigate, and the merman fell out. We could not get him off the deck. Eventually Clint and Thor got him into the fish hold.”

Mercifully, the merman stopped his thumping. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t even begin to tell you how long that’s been going on.”

Betty said, “We want to get him out of the hold and back into the ocean as soon as we can. It can’t be at all pleasant in there. It’s not designed for long-term sustainability.”

“And it stinks,” Tony added.

“That’s a given,” Bruce agreed. “We don’t even know what to feed him. We’re at least pumping in clean water and trying to get it to circulate to keep it fresh.”

“Fish?” Tony suggested. Bruce rolled his eyes. “Hey, just sayin’.”

Betty said, “We slipped in a sonar device and a web camera. Bruce and I are working with the theory that maybe he talks like whales and dolphins. Maybe we could work out how to talk with him?” She spun around the laptop to show the feed. “I think he might be scared. If only we could calm him down.”

“That’s a highly inaccurate statement,” Tony observed. Those eyes were not the eyes of a frightened creature, they were the eyes of someone mightily pissed off that his day has gone horribly wrong. While Tony appreciated his colleagues’ attempts to soothe the trapped merman, he thought they should focus on finding a more direct way of helping. “Do you think that he’ll be fine during the night?”

Bruce and Betty exchanged looks. “I’d be happier if we could get him food,” Betty said.

Thor and Natasha had already been volunteered to find fish for their guest. As Tony and Bruce waited for them to catch dinner for the merman, Clint explained that they had to keep the cover over the hold because the merman attempted to grab the edge of the hatch. He worried about the merman cutting himself on the metal. And no one knew if he could manage to stay alive out of the water. The designated fisherpeople managed to capture five live fish and tossed them into the hold. The merman tapped on the wall of the hold. Tony decided they should go with “thank you” as the interpretation.

While the scientists and the crew were unusually subdued as they ate dinner and turned in early, Tony spent his night working out what was essentially an engineering problem. All he had to do was move a stubborn and difficult load from one area (the hold) to another (the ocean) within the shortest distance possible. Widgets, cargo, mermen, it really didn’t matter. Apply the right leverage, you can move anything, Tony firmly believed. If the merman had any intelligence or desire for survival, he’d pick up quickly on what they were doing and cooperate. If he didn’t, well, there were always the tranquilizer darts. 

In the morning, Tony outlined his brilliant, brilliant plan to the assembled boat crew. All they had to was lower Tony into the hold where he would persuade Mr. Merman to grab onto the boom Tony had rigged an hour ago. Then Natasha would winch them up out of the hold and swing the crane over the edge of the boat. The merman would be free to let go and return to … well, wherever he was from. And no one would ever need to discuss this again. Tony loved the simplicity of his plan. Now all they had to do was carry it out.

They lifted the cover and slowly winched Tony down into the hold. Someone had rigged up lights along the edge of the hatch so Tony could see clearly the walls and water in the hold. The merman poked his head above the water. Tony showed him the dry erase board he brought. The success of the plan hinged on Tony’s ability to explain the plan to the merman through pictures. Fortunately, Tony was completely unaware of how little faith his comrades had in his ability to do this.

The merman came closer, appearing to be curious about what Tony was attempting. Tony noticed that not only did he have blue eyes, he also was very good-looking. Maybe one of the top ten beautiful people Tony had ever met. Tony blinked a couple of times, trying to dispel the strange thoughts about what the rest of the merman looked like, if the advance advertising was true. He motioned for the merman to come toward the board on which he had drawn a picture of the boom. 

The merman studied the picture. Smiling, Tony gave a thumb’s up to signal okay. The merman was hesitant, and then returned the gesture but did not smile. Tony wiped the board and quickly drew the crane. Together they went through the pantomime for each of the steps involved until Tony felt that maybe the merman got it. Tony gestured with his hand and thumb again and said, “Okay?”

The merman rubbed his chin with his hand. He looked around the hold and then back at Tony. He nodded. Tony tugged on the rope they used to lower him down. They pulled up back to the deck and then lowered the boom into the hold. Watching from the hatch opening, Tony saw the merman grab on as he hoped. Tony waved at Natasha to winch the boom out of the hold. He stepped away from the hatch. 

The plan was working, Tony noted with glee. The merman held onto the boom and was finally freed from the hold. Natasha swung the cage over the deck on the way to the railing. So far, so good, Tony thought, the plan was going as expected.

What Tony had not expected was the merman’s magnificence revealed in the bright morning sunlight. Well, as magnificent as the merman could possibly be after spending a day in the dank fish hold. Tony thought he was gorgeous from his head to his tail fin, if he knew his merpeople. Mr. Merman had blue iridescent scales scattered across his broad shoulders and all over his tail. His dolphin-like tail fin was shapely and fringed with light blue and a hint of red; the elegant fins at his waist were similarly colored. The merman had amazingly defined musculature on his shoulders, arms, chest and abs. Tony had to wonder if he had ever seen such biceps and abs outside of a men’s magazine or a gym. He was definitely, definitely one of the most beautiful people, well, merpeople, Tony had ever seen, not that he had ever seen any mer-creatures before. Even the bruising and the occasional spot of slime did not mar his beauty.

Tony continued to stare in stunned silence as the merman took a moment to flick his wet hair off his forehead, and his deep blue eyes locked with Tony’s. Then Mr. Greek-god-gorgeous Merman looked around the deck and the assembled crowd as if taking everyone’s measure. Natasha carefully swung the crane out over the ocean. Once safely over the water, the merman let go of the boom and dove gracefully in the water. Tony held his breath until he saw the merman bob his head up over the waves and give a thumb’s up to say he was okay. The merman ducked under the water again and was gone, leaving a silvery cloud of bubbles on the surface. 

Tony turned and high-fived Bruce standing next to him. He had been damn right about how to get the merman out of the hold. His brilliant plan worked perfectly! Tony joked about buying everyone drinks to celebrate. Later that evening, as everyone started to call it a night, a buzzed and lazy Tony agreed with Betty, who insisted that they never tell anyone what they had found in the ocean. She was touched by the plight of the poor merman and didn’t want anyone to hunt him down for a zoo or aquarium. Tony had very different ideas in a slightly different direction, but somehow he thought that Betty would disapprove of any merman despoiling.

 

Steve swam swiftly to the safety of the little cave he called home, relieved to have gotten out of that tricky situation so well. The cage the Land People had him in stunk to high heaven and the water tasted of horrible things. After shooing stray fish out of the cave, he closed the gate and settled down for a long rest on his bed, curling his tail around the bed pole so he would not drift off while he slept. He stretched his arms and back, working the kinks out, and thought on the past day.

The Land People did not appear to mean him harm. They appeared to be just shocked as he was that he ended up on their boat. In the final analysis, it was probably his fault for being so incautious. He knew that a boat was in the area and yet he decided to go looking for supplies in the same area as they were. It had happened so quickly, he had swum into one of the wrecks littering the ocean floor as he was wont to do and then found himself being hauled up out of the ocean. He would need to be careful as long as the Land People were around. 

And he was a little disquieted by how he remembered so vividly the brown eyes of the Man with the Pictures. Despite his great anxiety to escape back home, his attention had been caught by the intriguing alertness and sparkle in those big eyes. Steve shook his head, tut-tutting at his thoughts and was soon lulled into a much-needed sleep.

When he woke, he went about his usual business, cleaning the cave, tidying up his supplies, checking his traps for dinner. He tended to his front yard, raking the sand and fixing the placement of the carefully chosen rocks along the perimeter. Not that his day of captivity put him behind schedule or anything. Actually it had been the most interesting thing to have happened to him for a long time. That sounded particularly pathetic, he thought, thinking that being stuck in a dank hole was better than puttering around the cave. He decided that maybe he needed to sort through his art supplies he kept in a sort of makeshift shed near his cave. And clean the seaweed from his sculptures around the yard. He really should get right on that. It would help clear his mind.

A cheerful and energetic merman, Steve lived a very quiet life among the wrecks on the ocean floor. But while it was a good and wholesome life, it was also lonely. He had long ago lost his fellow merpeople to a terrible earthquake. After a long, failed search to find other merpeople, he settled at last in this pleasant little corner of the ocean world where he carved out some space for himself and went about creating his sculptures, mosaics and etchings. He did not dwell on the tragedies of his life. But in a moment of weakness he had to admit that it had been nice to be around some sort of people again, even if they were Land People and the contact fleeting.

Seaweed cleaning lost all its luster the more he wondered why the people were here and what they were doing. The ocean was a terrible place to be if you could not swim or defend yourself. He had been a guard for his city and did not think that the Land People were at all equipped or prepared for the dangers of the ocean. Perhaps he should check on them. From a distance, just to make sure that they were okay.

 

Bruce was the one who noticed that the merman hovering around their wreck investigation site. He elbowed Tony to point out the shy mer-creature hiding behind a rock outcropping. Tony kept an eye out for the blue-tailed distraction, whom he only seemed to glimpse out of the corner of his eye over the next two days. Betty actually made contact with the merman when she went on a dive to do analysis of another wreck. Mr. Merman propped up the wreck while Betty gathered her data.

Over dinner, Betty described the brief encounter. “He came from nowhere,” she said. “And he helped out! All I had to do was point and he figured out what I wanted.” Bruce smiled at his girlfriend’s enthusiasm. She swatted at him playfully. “I think based on the brain power around this table we could figure out a way to communicate with him.”

Because of his work, Tony was the one who did the most dives and spent the most time on the ocean floor. Unlike Betty or Bruce, he still had not seen the merman at all, and he tried to not to be annoyed with that. After all, it’s not like he needed to see the merman again, or wonder what he was doing, or if he was okay. Tony was definitely not thinking about the merman. Even after Natasha and Clint reported seeing him poking his head up once or twice near the boat, and Jane waved at him and he waved back. Tony gritted his teeth and focused furiously on laying out the grid pattern for his soil collection. No, nope, not feeling left out at all.

He was close to finishing when he looked up and saw the merman swimming towards him. Or rather the merman was herding a large school of fish away from Tony. Tony stared in amazement at the sheer beauty of the merman swimming, his long arms fluidly sweeping through the water and tail fin flicking. The merman stopped not far from Tony, nodded, and then left. Tony thought maybe it was some sort of greeting. He did not see the merman again that day.

The next day, Betty joined him in his survey work. Tony suspected that she had ulterior motives as he noticed a particular gleam in her eye when he mentioned seeing the merman. She and Jane had been working on some sort of secret project regarding their merman friend. Tony didn’t have to be a genius, even though of course he was, to guess what Betty was up to. To Tony’s surprise, the merman showed up. Betty showed him what they were doing. Tony tried to act as if he weren’t fascinated by the sight of the merman helping Betty with soil collection. But of course he couldn’t help himself, and he watched as Betty started to teach the merman sign language. Her signing was clumsy because of her dive gloves, but Mr. Merman studied her movements carefully and then started to sign back. By the end of their dive time, Betty had taught their sea-bound friend twenty words, mostly related to the soil collecting work. But, hey, you gotta start somewhere, Tony assessed.

Back on the boat, Betty excitedly shared with Jane the success of their experiment. “It worked,” she said. “I think our friend is very smart. He caught on quickly.” Betty was very dedicated to the idea of teaching the merman even more words the next time they encountered him. Which was now daily, Tony noted.

 

Steve thought he was probably spending too much time with the Land People. He was now stopping by to check on them more than once a day. At first, sometimes they saw him and waved; other times he watched from a distance, ducking behind rocks and wreckage so they wouldn’t see him. Then he began to help in whatever they were doing, lifting heavy objects, shooing wandering fish away, holding up their oddly shaped whatchamacallits. He even swam up to the surface bringing their stuff from the ocean floor up to their boats.

He really liked being useful. And they were appreciative of his help. Then he started to like their company too. He didn’t know the Red-Headed One and the Short Blond One very well since they only occasionally were in the small boats. But the Red-Headed One had waved to him from the big boat so he thought she was friendly. There was a Brown-Haired One and a Large Blond One. They always were on the big boat so Steve wasn’t sure about them but they were probably okay. He rarely saw the One with an Eye-Patch. 

The others he knew much better. The Kind One taught him how to communicate with them using their hands. She was very patient, taught him many words, and Steve now understood what they were doing here. He also noticed that she was a special friend of the Angry One. Steve liked him but sometimes there seemed to be a thread of anger underlying his actions when he dropped something or mismeasured. Steve would smile at him and try to help out. The Angry One would shake his head and say something, maybe a joke or an explanation. He would sign to Steve to explain afterwards. Sometimes he didn’t use nice words and seemed concerned that he was swearing in front of Steve, but Steve used those words too so it didn’t bother him. Steve tended to give a thumb’s up to nearly everything until the Angry One taught him when to do it and when not to. They laughed together a lot after that. Steve started to think of them as friends.

It was the Mouthy One he couldn’t figure out. At first, Steve thought he was like the others except he just talked more. He talked all the time, he even talked to Steve when Steve helped him with his equipment and couldn’t comprehend. Steve liked to watch him work. He was fluid in his movements as he walked around on the ocean floor. He carried himself with intelligence and curiosity. Steve couldn’t see his face behind his goggles or his body under his opaque suit so he couldn’t get a good read on the Mouthy One about his mood, thoughts or intentions. And Steve worried about him because he was always out here alone and he seemed so much more vulnerable than the others.

Creatures under the sea do not do subtlety because of the dimness of the light under the water. So Steve was used to talking with gestures and broad facial expressions in order to make himself understood. Steve wanted to know what the Mouthy One was saying but he couldn’t follow, or the man just pointed at what he wanted Steve to bring him. It really shouldn’t bother him that he couldn’t understand the man. Or that the Mouthy One didn’t notice if Steve was there or not. Steve wanted to call him friend but the man seemed very distant.

The next day, Steve vowed to stay home at the cave and work on his badly neglected art projects. He had ideas about a new sculpture he wanted to create. He spent the better part of the day sorting through the materials he had found among the wrecks looking for just the right objects for his plans. After setting down the base, he looked up and saw the Mouthy One outside his yard. Steve blinked a couple of times since this was a very big surprise. He didn’t think that any of the Land People knew where he lived. His instincts said he should drive the man off since he didn’t know if he could trust him yet. 

But the Mouthy One turned out to be polite and was clearly waiting for an invitation. Steve signed, _Come in._

The man walked carefully in around Steve’s rock mosaics and signed back, _Hello._

A little part of Steve was very pleased to see the man here and it was rapidly overriding Steve’s cautious side. _Hello._

_You live here?_

Steve nodded. He tugged on the man’s sleeve to indicate that he would show him around. There wasn’t much to see but Steve was proud of his cave, shed and sculptures. He longed to know what the man was thinking. He thought he saw a flicker of a smile and knowing look on the man’s face. At the end of the tour, Steve pointed out the mosaics in the sand, brushing off one with a flick of his tail.

The man started to sign something. Steve shook his head because he didn’t know these signs. The Kind One had started to teach him how to sign letters in order to spell out words. Maybe these were letters? Steve signed, _Slow down._

Mouthy One started over again. _T-O-N-Y._

 _T-O-N-Y._ Steve signed back. He looked quizzically back at the man. The man pointed at himself. _You are Tony?_ The man nodded emphatically. Steve signed back, _S-T-E-V-E._ And pointed at himself. These were the closest signs he could figure out for his name, the shapes just seemed right.

 _Steve._ The man smiled and nodded. _You have a nice home._ Tony pushed his foot around the sand. _You can help me tomorrow?_

Yes. He would like that very much, Steve thought excitedly.

Tony gave a thumb’s up. _See you later. Have to go._ He tugged on the hose attached to the tank on his back. Steve nodded and waved to Tony as he left.

Steve could not get any sleep that night as he thought of seeing Tony later. It was wonderful that someone else knew his name now and maybe it was extra-special that it was Tony who knew.

 

“You look like the cat that ate the canary,” Bruce observed as Tony clambered back into the small boat. 

“I know where the merman lives. And his name,” Tony said with a smirk.

“Really? What is it?” Bruce asked, clearly interested in the answer.

“Steve.”

“Steve the Merman?”

“Yep. That’s what the merman told me.”

“I was thinking it would be more, you know, exotic.”

Tony shrugged. “He lives in this cave and he is apparently an artist because he has all these sculptures and mosaics.” Tony thought the whole thing was rather quaint but then he remembered how proud Steve was to show him his art. Steve was turning out to be far more interesting than your average pretty merman face. He wondered what other mysteries lay behind Steve’s big blue eyes.

Tony had only planned to tell Betty and Bruce but his news was all over the boat just as soon as he told Betty. She was taking notes as Tony repeated his story to each of the scientists and the boat crew. Tony suspected that she had developed theories about Steve and his fellow merpeople. Then Betty got everyone to agree to leave Steve in peace. It was fine if he came to them. But his cave was off limits unless he invited them over.

As Tony went down to his lab, Betty buttonholed him and said, “You know that off limits includes you too, Tony, right?”

“Hey, I’ve been there already and he didn’t melt.” Thinking back on it, Tony thought that Steve seemed rather grateful to be showing Tony around. 

“Fine,” Betty said with exasperation. “But I don’t think that anyone else here would, you know, jump Steve if they got a choice.”

“Betty, a person would have to be dead to not want to jump Steve if given the chance. He’s gorgeous.” Betty was appropriately shocked. “But, I mean, we were not all raised by wolves here. We wouldn’t go poking around other people’s house on land, I don’t think we’d do that to Steve. He’s our friend.” 

Betty seemed satisfied with that explanation and went off to join Bruce. As Tony bent over to calibrate his GPS equipment, he had to admit to himself that he hadn’t followed Steve to his cave and then stopped by later for a visit out of any altruistic reason. Tony spent a couple of nights learning sign language and had aimed to be better than Betty at it. Then he worked out where Steve went when he wasn’t hanging around the boats and divers. He had wanted to be the first to know Steve’s name and maybe figure out a way to spend some time with the merman. He had high hopes for tomorrow.

Now that Tony had broken the ice with Steve, the day they spent together surveying the wrecks and collecting data about environmental impacts was more than Tony had hoped. As he suspected, Steve was a very quick learner. By the end of Tony’s dive time, Steve had picked up dozens more words and they had moved into having actual conversations. Tony, of course, had to return to the boat. He was reluctant to part from Steve since he was having a terrific time. And it appeared that Steve was keen on sticking around.

Once Tony was safely ensconced in the boat, Steve pulled himself up on the short ladder that the divers used to get in and out of the boat, and managed to hook his elbow on the side so that he could still sign to Tony. Tony couldn’t help but chatter away verbally and sign at Steve, who only smiled angelically back at him. The sun dried Steve’s hair and Tony went a little weak in the knees as he discovered that Steve was a blond. The sight of Steve’s brushing his hair out of his eyes did something to Tony’s insides and it was only his iron will (and Betty’s disapproval) that kept him from attacking Steve.

 _So you can stick your head above water?_ Tony asked, noticing that Steve had no problems with breathing.

 _Yes. I do have go under the water at times._ Steve then ducked his head under the water to prove his point.

Breaking through the surface, Steve playfully splashed Tony, who protested. Tony scrambled to find a bucket or scoop to dump water on Steve. Steve moved very quickly around the boat, evading Tony’s attempts to splash him. As soon Tony positioned himself to catch Steve, Steve sprayed water on his back and then dashed under the boat. Tony could not stop laughing as he tried to catch Steve. This was immensely fun, Tony thought. He tried to hide below the edge of the boat so he could surprise Steve. He could hear Steve swimming around, occasionally tapping the hull as if sounding for Tony. 

Not thinking about the consequences, Tony jumped up with his bucket to throw water at Steve. But he misjudged his height and the edge of the boat and ended up falling out. He caught the shocked look on Steve’s face as he hit the water hard and slipped under the boat. Steve swam quickly to pull Tony away from the anchor line so Tony wouldn’t get tangled up and drown. Holding his eyes closed very tight, Tony heard Steve make a high-pitched, alarmed noise and then felt the strength in Steve’s arms while Steve tugged him away from the hull. His head lolled against Steve’s shoulder as Steve swam up to the surface. Steve manhandled Tony back into the boat. Tony opened his eyes to see Steve watching him worriedly. He pushed himself up off the deck into a sitting position and shook his head clear. Steve smiled in great relief. _Okay, Tony?_

 _Yes. Okay._ Tony wondered if Steve was fine like that stretched out fully on the deck. _You okay?_

Steve nodded. He had tremendous strength in his arms and back and could easily maneuver himself over the edge of the boat and back into the ocean. He hooked his arms over the edge of the boat. _Okay._

Tony inched forward to look into Steve’s eyes. Then Steve kissed him. Really just a brush of the lips, a tantalizing tease against Tony’s mouth, and it was over. Steve smiled shyly. Then he pushed off the boat and slipped into the water, disappearing into the depths. Tony was left wondering if it had happened at all. 

Over the next few days, Steve continued to help out Tony, Bruce and Betty with their surveying and material collection. He was willing to swim into the tight areas around the wrecks where the scientists were nervous to go because of their dive equipment. He dug in the sand to recover items they wanted. One thing he did that they never asked him to do was keep an eye out for danger. Steve knew that there were dangerous fish in the area and he also suspected that there were dangerous Land People too. He appreciated his friends’ intelligence and cleverness but he knew that they were not thinking of the possible dangers or even considering that they could run into trouble. Despite the short time he had known Tony, he saw that Tony took risks all the time without regard for personal safety. 

When Steve wasn’t helping his friends, he lingered around the larger boat learning the names of the others and getting to know them better. He enjoyed Jane’s quiet company and Thor’s description of clouds and storms about which Steve knew nothing and yet sounded very thrilling to see. They started to play games together as Jane or Thor would toss a ball at Steve and he would throw it back. Steve’s worries about his new friends were allayed somewhat when he met Natasha and Clint. He noticed that they were watching over their friends like Steve was. 

All in all, Steve was happy to have met the Land People. He just wished that he wasn’t starting to think about Tony all the time. He hadn’t planned on kissing Tony that time, it just felt right at the moment. He wondered if Tony wanted to spend time with him alone. He worried that Tony liked him as a friend and extra helper but nothing more. He dreaded finding out if that were the truth. Over the short time of knowing his new friends, Steve had gone from enduring being alone to being thrilled to have friends to now developing feelings for one of his friends. It was very unsettling to experience way his stomach fluttered when he saw Tony, the way his pulse raced when he brushed against Tony accidentally . He did not like how in quiet moments at home his thoughts dwelt on Tony and how he sifted through every moment of their interactions to find some hidden meaning. Steve was in way over his head.

 

After sharing the news with the scientists and crew that the contract had been extended another month, Tony went down to his cabin to do some paperwork and to renegotiate another month’s rental from Fury. He tried to focus on the forms but an hour later he stretched out and yawned. He would pawn the rest of the technical details off on his assistant, Pepper. He wanted to get back on the water. Admittedly, mainly to see Steve.

Tony knew that he was not immune to Steve’s charms. He rather enjoyed watching Steve swim around his boat when he was getting ready for dive or returning from one. He noticed when Steve wasn’t around, which meant that somehow Steve had woven himself into the fabric of Tony’s life unbidden. What was the mystery around the merman that was so attractive? But Tony realized that Steve was pretty much a what you see is what you get kind of person, uh, merperson. Merman, whatever. That didn’t matter, only that Tony wanted to get to know Steve better.

When Tony came on deck, he arrived in the middle of what would appear to be a party of sorts. Fury and Bruce had improvised some sort of barbeque on which they were grilling hamburgers and hotdogs. Betty and Jane were sorting out bowls of sides and condiments while Clint was fiddling with a large tub. Thor and Natasha were at the railing throwing a ball back and forth with Steve. Tony went to say hello to Steve.

Steve was nothing short of amazing. He was able to leap quite a distance above the water and then gracefully dive back under the waves. He never missed catching the ball until he saw Tony at the railing. Steve smiled broadly at Tony and waved. Then Thor bounced the ball off Steve’s head. Steve shook his head and went after the ball.

Natasha tapped Tony’s shoulder. “Hey, if you could take your eyes off your boyfriend for a minute, could you help me with the crane?”

Tony narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to make a snappy retort but Clint interrupted and said, “Nat, the tub’s ready for Steve.”

“Wait, what?” Tony asked. 

Clint said, “We’ve been planning this for awhile. We talked to Steve and figured out how we could have him join us for a cookout.” It sounded like a completely crazy idea, and Tony should know because he was usually the one who had them. Which meant that this was a bad idea. “Steve said it would be okay. Got to trust the merman, right? We could just dump him back in the ocean if he turns blue or something,” Clint stated.

So Tony watched with great concern as Natasha lowered the boom Tony had rigged up for the initial rescue from the hold towards Steve. Steve grabbed hold and was winched up to the deck and over to the tub. Clint guided him into the tub, into which Steve fit surprisingly well. Steve gave a thumb’s up and signed, _I’m fine. What’s for lunch?_

Betty replied _Hotdogs or hamburgers._ Clint pushed a chair over to Tony and gave him a wink. Tony sat down next to Steve. Then Betty came over with a few things. She gave Steve a t-shirt, hat and sunglasses. After Steve put them on, she applied zinc oxide to his nose. Tony looked at the both of them in complete alarm.

“I don’t want Steve to get a bad sunburn,” Betty explained. “Water usually filters sunlight and I don’t know what will happen to Steve if he isn’t covered up.”

Tony looked over Steve, who looked like a sun-starved tourist on a beach and not at all like his usual Greek god self. _You okay with this?_

 _It’s great, Tony. I just need to keep my gills wet._ He squeezed Tony’s hand. Betty had assembled some items in a bucket for Steve including a spray mister and left them and a pitcher of water by the tub. Steve picked up the mister to spray his gills. 

The cookout turned out to be fantastic. Fury made a mean burger and Tony never found out who was responsible for the terrific potato salad. Steve ate anything put in front of him and was clearly enjoying himself. Tony sat next to him for the whole afternoon. Jane showed Steve how to play poker and other card games, and Steve quickly picked up the rules. He appeared to love poker and was beating the rest of them in short order. Tony still admired the pretty packaging but was also developing a real fondness for Steve’s evident intelligence (not to mention his ability to keep his cards dry). 

Later, Tony set up an iPod and speakers because Bruce, Betty and Natasha wanted to dance. Bruce and Betty were very good, despite their protests that they were rusty, and Natasha even made “Two Left Feet” Clint look like a dance pro. Tony looked over at Thor and Jane cuddling up with each other, Natasha and Clint laughing at Clint’s missteps, and Bruce and Betty basking in each other’s glow. He glanced over at Steve, who had taken off the sunglasses and was watching the dancing couples with longing his his eyes.

Tony nudged him. _Something your people do?_

 _Did_ , Steve replied. _I always wanted to learn but was waiting for the right partner._

Steve’s sudden melancholia worried Tony. Maybe Steve just wilting from being away from the water too long. _Ready to go back?_

_I probably should._

Steve thanked them all, politely declining when Jane and Betty pressed him to stay longer. He really couldn’t, he replied. Natasha worked the crane again to return Steve to the ocean, and Tony suggested he should probably go and look after Steve, just in case Steve was not feeling too well. Or had too much sun. Or got dizzy from dehydration. The rest of the crowd elbowed each other and gave knowing looks as Tony lowered himself into the small boat.

Tony motored out, following Steve. Steve cut through the water like a knife, swimming easily over and through the waves. He paused to wait for Tony to catch up and set the boat anchor. Steve swam up to the boat and swung up on the ladder as he usually did. He reached over to take Tony’s hand and then Tony pulled Steve into the boat. He kissed Steve passionately, feeling Steve’s strong body melt in his arms. Steve tasted of the salt of the ocean and his body was warm and wet against Tony’s. Tony shifted to lay down on the decking and pulled Steve alongside him. Opening his mouth to Steve, Tony felt the roughness of Steve’s tongue and the suppleness of his lips. Tony’s hand drifted down Steve’s back, coming to rest where his skin turned to glittering scales, and then slipping lower to caress the muscular swell below Steve’s waist. Steve’s hand slipped under Tony’s t-shirt and hooked around Tony’s waist holding them close. The setting sun was warm on Tony’s skin, the tang of the ocean in his nose and he was comfortable and warm in Steve’s arms, lazily kissing the merman’s lips and face. He never wanted to leave the rocking boat or Steve, everything he ever wanted was here in their private little world.

Tony’s fingers traced Steve’s jaw, tangled in his hair, brushed against his gills. Steve suddenly broke from the kiss and pulled out of Tony’s embrace. Tony yelped in surprise, then he noticed that Steve was blushing furiously. Steve’s gills must be a major erogenous zone, Tony realized, almost as if he had stuck his hands down Steve’s pants. Well, the equivalent of Steve’s pants. Not that Steve had pants. Or a cock. Tony’s stream of thought was not making this any better. “Sorry about that,” he offered.

Steve tilted his head to the side and looked quizzically at Tony. Tony realized Steve couldn’t understand him. _Sorry about that._

 _I am okay. Why sorry?_ Steve was genuinely confused.

 _You know._ Tony made a gesture indicating Steve’s neck.

Steve gave a small frown and shook his head. _That’s for when you have a partner._ Then he smiled shyly. _It felt very good._ Steve then seemed to notice the rapid coming on of night. _I need to go. I’ve stayed out too long._

 _Will I see you tomorrow?_ Tony’s heart pounded in fear that Steve would say no.

 _Of course._ Steve kissed Tony’s nose and squeezed his hand. Then he flipped over the side of the boat and into the waves.

 

Tony spent the evening redesigning all the filtration systems in his pools in his apartment in New York and mansion in California to handle salt water. Then he dreamed of Steve in those pools, propped up on an edge, a bright, inviting smile on his beautiful face, skin wet, tail flicking lazily, looking up at Tony through lowered eyelashes. He had to make that happen. There was no way he wanted to leave Steve behind when it was time to go. Then Bruce knocked furiously on his door and it was time to crunch and analyze data all morning. The fascination of figuring out data was in no way equal to seducing Steve in a pool.

They were stuck below decks for most of the morning lost in data, so they weren’t aware of what was going on topsides. When Tony finally surfaced, he saw an intense Natasha and Clint bent over the railings talking to an angry Steve, who was gesturing wildly . They kept looking off to the horizon. “What’s going on?” Tony asked a very tense Jane.

Jane replied, “Steve is saying that we need to leave. He saw something dangerous out there.”

“Can’t be that bad,” Tony said optimistically. “We’ve been warned before and the only trouble we’ve found is Steve.”

Fury stormed off the bridge and started barking orders at Natasha and Clint. Clint went to winch up the anchor and Natasha vanished below decks. But it was too late. Another boat had appeared on the horizon and was moving very fast towards them. Natasha reappeared with weapons. Tony had no idea that the crew had guns on aboard. He looked down at Steve, suddenly steely-eyed and firm-jawed, watching the other boat warily.

“What’s going on?” Tony asked again.

Natasha replied, “Unwanted company. We think that they are related to a smuggling ring in the area. They might just want to drive us off.”

“Or --”

“Or attack us. You all should go below decks.”

Jane and Betty came up to Tony. “We’re going to save all the data we’ve collected. They could be after the survey and computer equipment. We’ll keep Bruce with us.” 

“Where’s Thor?” Tony asked. Natasha pointed to the bridge, where Thor was with Fury. Well, he was a big guy and solid muscle. And Jane mentioned how he had occasionally supported himself through grad school as a nightclub bouncer.

The other boat continued to close in on their boat, then it stopped. A few tense moments passed. Tony turned to Natasha, “Steve needs to get out of here.”

She shook her head. “Steve has a plan.”

“Steve? Our Steve? Has a plan?”

“He was captain of his city guard so I think he knows what he’s doing.” 

Tony found a pair of binoculars on deck and he used them to find the top of Steve’s head, just barely above the surface of the ocean. He looked up at the other boat. “I see four guys on the other boat.”

“Hmmm,” Natasha said. “Are they armed?”

Tony sighed. “Yes. Automatic weapons as far as I can tell.”

That’s when the shooting started. Natasha pushed Tony down flat on the deck and started to fire back. Tony crept to the railings and hid just below the edge of the curtain wall that edged the deck below the railings. He peeked over to see what was going on. Natasha slid in behind him and said, “Fury and Steve think that all we have to do show that we aren’t pushovers and they’ll go away.”

He lifted up the binoculars but couldn’t see Steve at all. “What’s Steve doing?” 

“He’s going to do something to their hull. He figures that they’ll leave us alone if they have to bail out their boat.”

“Oh.” Good plan, Tony acknowledged, with a feeling of pride at Steve’s ingenuity.

The shooting was now intermittent. But it was very nerve-wracking to hear the occasional shot, especially when the bullets whistled overhead. Then Tony heard a muffled explosion and he looked over at Natasha. “That’s Steve,” she said with relief. There was a second explosion and the other boat seemed to be dead in the water.

“Good ol’ Steve,” Tony said, hiding his nervousness. He wouldn’t be at ease until the other boat was gone and Steve was back with them.

He could see Steve swimming swiftly back to their boat, his head occasionally bobbing above the surface. The shooting had completely stopped and Natasha took the opportunity to check in with Fury and Thor. Tony went to the railing where the ladder was for the small boat. Steve was already at the ladder, a little out of breath. Tony was so very glad to see him. Before Tony could say congratulations, Steve whipped his head around and jumped up, holding out a large piece of wreckage like a shield in front of him. Tony heard the bullets hit Steve’s shield. He never saw the shot coming; if he had been hit, he would have been killed instantly. He gasped and Steve flashed him a smile. Then he saw Steve jump up again and deflect most of another volley with his impromptu shield. He didn’t stop every bullet though -- he was hit, his head was thrown back, and his body fell heavily back into the ocean. Tony screamed “STEVE!” He saw a pool of blood bloom briefly on the water and then he heard a sickening thud as Steve’s body hit the hull of their boat. 

Then it was all over just as soon as it started. Natasha came down to report that Fury was in touch with the authorities about the attack from the other boat. She saw everything and joined Tony, who was still at the railing staring uncomprehending at the ocean. Steve couldn’t be gone. Not after saving his life, all their lives. Natasha hugged him. “Steve is very brave and strong. He’ll make it, I’m sure.” Tony wasn’t sure if she was convinced of that or just was saying something to make them both feel better.

The next few days went by in a blur. Tony knew vaguely that some sort of authorities came and dealt with the smugglers and their disabled boat. And that his scientists and the boat crew were all interviewed. He spent the time looking for Steve, but there was not a single sign of him. The others tried as well. They were kind to Tony, knowing that he was very distraught at losing Steve. But they all felt that they knew what had happened to the courageous merman who had saved them and their research.

Finally, Bruce was dispatched to ask Tony what their plans were now, whether they were continuing their research into wrecks in the area or returning to Nassau. Blinking back tears, Tony knew that they should return to port to regroup and reassess their next steps. But first he wanted to visit Steve’s cave again. Bruce and Betty agreed to come as well. 

Tony half-hoped to find Steve in the little cave, even though he had checked before. But when they arrived, it was clear that Steve had not been there in days. Floating seaweed and other debris was already starting to mar the tidiness of his sculpture garden and yard. Crabs and other sea creatures had made a mess of Steve’s mosaics and paths. Tony felt some pride when he saw Bruce and Betty in awe of Steve’s work. He just wished Steve was here to see it. Then he showed them the cave. Betty had to leave -- she was about to burst into tears. Tony looked around and he and Bruce decided to pack up Steve’s things as best they could so that at least his personal belongings would not be scavenged over. They found a few boxes of unknown items, things that might be books, and then they found the etchings. Steve had done portraits of all the scientists and crew, especially Tony. He had been a very good artist. Tony signaled to Bruce that it was time to go, to leave the cave, and to leave this site behind forever.

When they returned to the boat with Steve’s things, Tony was more than ready to return to Nassau. He didn’t understand why he was so upset, he had only known Steve for maybe two months. Then he would remember his smile and the way he had blushed on the small boat after kissing Tony. And he had died saving all of them. Tony would go to Nassau and figure out what next to do. But he didn’t want to work on the wreck site anymore. Maybe he would just go home to California.

 

Movement is life and life is movement. Steve had been taught that since he was very little. It meant that to be safe, he had to keep moving. So he knew his chances of survival were poor when he was shot in the shoulder and tail unless he was rescued by his friends. Then he was knocked unconscious when he hit the hull. The current took his body away from the boat and his home and he was carried a very long distance away into dark and unfamiliar waters.

He was surprised when he woke up. He had not expected to at all after being rendered unconscious. But he was in a nice cave, tied to a bed so he wouldn’t float off. At first he wondered how long he had been out and then he wondered where he was. 

“Be careful. Your shoulder and tail are still healing,” a male voice said. 

Steve understood. Whoever it was could speak his language. “What happened? Who are you?” He turned from side to side to figure out who else was in the cave.

“The second question is easy to answer. I’m Phil the Sea Witch. I found you injured and caught in some seaweed. I think you know the answer to the first question.”

“I was shot by Land People.” Steve remembered. It was all coming back to him, every detail, even the look of horror on Tony’s face, an indelible last image in Steve’s brain.

“Oh, that’s a shame. I found you entangled in seaweed and trapped against some rocks.” Phil pressed the back of his hand against Steve’s forehead. “You feel less clammy.”

“I think I feel better,” Steve said optimistically. “I’m Steve, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Steve. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a merperson.” Steve could sense that Phil got up from where he was sitting. The cave was much darker and Steve could not see well. Phil whispered something and suddenly there was a small glowing ball on a table. “Fish?” Phil offered.

Steve said thank you and finally got a good look at the sea witch, who came in the traditional form of a human head and torso fused with octopus tentacles. Steve had fought sea witches before and part of him knew that he shouldn’t trust Phil, no matter how nice he appeared. But Steve had no fight in him right now. Phil gave him fish to eat and took care of him as he continued to recover. 

Once Steve was able to get up, he helped Phil around the cave, cleared the area outside the cave, tended to Phil’s fish herds and built walls. Despite being hale and hearty again, Steve’s heart was somewhere else. He wondered about his friends and wanted to know if Tony was safe and sound. Steve could tell from the feel of the water and rocks and sight of the fish and other sea creatures that he was a long way from his home waters. He missed the warmer water and the better light. But he felt indebted to Phil and felt bound to stay until he paid the sea witch back.

At dinner Phil said, “You’ve been restless, Steve, for a while now.”

Stoically, Steve replied, “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Phil patted his shoulder with a tentacle. “It’s probably time for you to go, isn’t it?”

“I owe you for your care,” Steve replied. “But I want to return to my friends. I think that they are safe but I need to know for sure.”

“Your company has been payment enough. I never do have many visitors -- everyone is always afraid of us sea witches.” Phil got up and rummaged through his shelves. He put on the table in front of them several mysterious objects. “I don’t think that finding your friends is the only thing on your mind, young merman.”

Steve blushed. Tony was occupying a lot of his thoughts. Now he wasn’t at all sure what he would do if he found Tony again, though Tony touching his gills again was an extremely pleasant thought. 

Phil pulled out a necklace with two flat little metallic rectangles. “I have a little magic left to help you.”

“But there’s always a price,” Steve protested.

“Yes, usually, but not this time. I haven’t done any magic for anyone in a very long time, so consider this a freebie. You already have put yourself in danger by getting involved with the Land People and likely being in love with one of them. I am not inclined to make it any worse for you.”

Steve wasn’t in love with Tony. He couldn’t be, they barely knew each other. But him being a merman and Tony being a Land Person meant that they did not have the luxury of getting to know each other gradually over time. Steve had to seize his opportunities when he got them. He nodded at Phil.

Phil incanted a spell over and over again. He then gave Steve the plain necklace and rectangles. “The magic is only as strong as what’s in your heart. When you need the spell, it will come to you. Don’t abuse it. But if your heart falters, so does the spell. And you won’t be able to summon the magic.” Steve put the necklace on. “I wish you the best, merman. Good luck on your journey.”

 

When Tony arrived in Nassau, he made arrangements for everyone to have hotel rooms in the priciest hotel in the city, picked the room with the best view for himself, and had Pepper fly out from California. That’s how Tony ended up sitting across Pepper talking about the contract work, his scientific colleagues, the boat crew, the attack by the smugglers, and maybe Steve. A little about Steve. In actuality, a lot about Steve. 

Pepper listened carefully and, taking Tony’s hand, said compassionately, “So I guess you have some strong feelings for Steve.”

Tony absentmindedly pushed the food around his plate. “Maybe?” he admitted. “But he’s a merman so it wouldn’t work.”

Pepper dropped her fork on the floor and stared at Tony. “Tony! You forgot to mention that part. You’re in love with a merman?”

“Well, maybe a little in love. He’s smart and talented. And I think he’s still alive even if no one else does,” Tony said, reflecting on Steve. “He’s incredibly hot and has beautiful blue scales and a wide tail. Not that that’s the only reason I really like him. He has this funny way of signing when he gets excited --”

“Wait, wait, Tony, back up a bit -- what do you mean by you think he’s still alive? The merman?” Pepper looked lost and very worried about Tony.

With a sigh, Tony told her the story of how Steve saved his life and was seriously injured during the attack. “It didn’t look good. He didn’t go back to his cave, there was no sign at all of where he went, nothing at all.” 

He pushed the food around the plate some more. Damn it all, they had overlooked the obvious. He was starting to get some ideas. Very good ideas. He was a damned marine engineer. He should have considered the currents. He grabbed for his phone. “Bruce? Round everyone up, we have serious science to do.” He looked up at Pep. “Got to go.” He squeezed her hand. “Got to find Steve.”

Back in his hotel room, Tony fired up every computer he had. He needed serious computing power. Bruce and Betty arrived shortly after. Tony directed them to find everything and anything they had about the currents and topography where they were investigating the rocks. “What’s this about, Tony?”

“It’s about Steve. We forgot about the currents! I wonder, maybe he could have been swept into the western boundary current ...” Tony muttered. 

Bruce and Betty exchanged worried glances. “Tony, you know that this is a needle in the haystack thing? If Steve was fine …”

“I’m not giving up if there’s the slightest bit of hope.”

Jane was next, trailing Thor behind her. Tony put them to work on the physics of how Steve likely fell in the water. Jane was game but she pointed out that she had only Tony’s faulty memories of Steve’s trajectory. But Tony was having none of that. Everyone had their Ph.D in a hard science in this room -- he was being generous to Thor based on his all-but-dissertation status -- so they damn well could do modeling to account for some faulty data. Plus part of being a good scientist is being observant and reporting accurate results and Tony was a very good scientist. 

Tony glanced at Steve’s etching he did of Tony propped up on the bureau in the bedroom. All Tony needed was the most likely place Steve could end up. That’s where they’d take the boat and start the search.

 

When Steve set off for his journey home and back to Tony, he could feel the direction of the current and where it was going. He knew he had to swim in the opposite direction and follow the upwards slope of the ocean floor. He swam among dolphins, whales and sharks, passing through flashy, confusing schools of fish and floating jellyfish. He only stopped to hunt for breakfast or dinner. Fortunately, his skills were still strong that he could nab an unwary fish or distracted crab quickly and could get on his way quickly. He slept when he got too tired to keep his eyes open but he permitted himself the luxury of an hour or two. He was desperate to return to Tony before Tony thought that something terrible had happened to Steve. In his weak moments when he doubted himself and what he was doing, he feared that he had failed to protect Tony and Tony was lying dead somewhere.

As Steve strove mightily to make his way back to his home waters, he thought about why he cared so much about Tony. His feelings started when Tony treated him kindly in that hold on the boat. Then he became intrigued by Tony’s boldness in exploring the ocean and how he took risks when he could get into so much trouble. Tony had style and panache and intelligence and Steve was dazzled by him. He was also a very good kisser, Steve remembered with a blush. He wondered what it would have been like if Tony had been a merman in his merpeople city. He envisioned a Tony with a bright red tail with gold accents on his fins, and Steve would have been immediately drawn to him as he dashed around with his machines and groups of friends and hangers-on. Tony would be so gorgeous he’d stop traffic wherever he went.

After many leagues of swimming and a little help from the sea witch’s magic, Steve could feel the water change for the better, it tasted sweet on his tongue. He started to recognize the rock outcroppings and the wrecks that littered the ocean floor. He was home. His cave and yard were almost unrecognizable and all his things were gone. It was like he didn’t live there any more. But he was home.

Now he just had to find Tony.

 

While Tony drove his friends on to formulate information about currents, he negotiated with Fury to take him out the wreck site again. Fury grumbled and demanded more than Tony would usually pay , but Tony did not care what it cost. He successfully ignored the deepening frown on Pepper’s face and dismissed Bruce and Betty’s concerns about finding one merman in the vastness of the ocean. Tony fixed things and he would fix this.

He cajoled, nagged, charmed his fellow scientists to get on the boat for the trip back. And if they hesitated, he ignored their weak protests and dragged them along to the dock. 

Pepper made a final attempt to dissuade Tony. In the car ride to the port, she tried to point out how even if he found Steve, it could not end well. There were practically no happy endings for humans and merpeople who fall in love -- nearly every fairy tale and legend spelt out the odds against them. “And what would you do, Tony, if you found him?” Pepper asked, trying to appeal to Tony’s long-buried practical instincts.

“Oh, I’ve priced out air cargo shipments and it’s very reasonable to airlift Steve to California,” Tony replied with complete sincerity. “Steve will like Malibu -- he can see the ocean from the pool. And I’ve already starting drawing up plans to fit out one of the cars with a tank so we can go places together, like the beach.”

“Tony. Do you realize what you are saying?”

“I wouldn’t take him to an aquarium -- I don’t think that --”

“Tony,” Pepper said firmly, in her voice she used when she demanded Tony’s attention.

“I know what I’m doing, Pep,” Tony replied reassuringly as the car pulled up to the wharf where Fury’s boat was docked. “You’re worried about me? Look at them, they put Steve in a tub when we had a cookout on the boat.” He waved in the direction of the collected scientists.

Pepper grabbed both of Tony’s hands and made him look at her. “Tony, I’ve talked to Bruce, Betty and Jane. They don’t think Steve made it. Natasha and Clint don’t either. I’d hate to see you crushed but you need to be open to the fact that Steve is likely dead. Please, Tony, please be careful.”

Tony kissed her forehead. “I appreciate the concern, Pepper. Everyone is underestimating Steve. I have complete faith that he made it through. In the confusion we forgot about the currents, which probably carried Steve away from the boat.”

“Okay, Tony, give me a call when you need me. I’m heading home.”

“You’ll like Steve when I bring him back. He’s an artist.” With that, Tony rushed out of the car and over to the boat.

Tony was reasonably certain that Fury did not like him and just tolerated him for the money. But Fury stopped him as he went below decks and said, “Son, I have deep misgivings about this, but I wish you the best.”

Shocked, Tony managed to choke out a reply, “Thank you, Fury.” He looked over at Natasha and Clint who just shrugged in response.

After the boat had pulled out of port, the scientists and the boat crew had a serious discussion about where to start the search. Tony showed them his brand-new shiny model of the currents around the wreckage site. Jane’s suggestion of starting at the worksite prevailed, especially after it was pointed out that no one could pinpoint exactly where Steve was since Steve was not equipped with GPS or a tracking chip. (Tony filed the idea away for the future, though.) Fury set the course for the return. As the meeting broke up, Betty reminded Tony gently that they might not find Steve, or even Steve’s body due to predators and other ocean dangers. Tony just smiled and said he knew that they would find him.

When they reached the worksite, the day was dawning bright and serene. Thor was especially glad at the good weather since his weather forecasts indicated that they could be facing worsening weather in a few days, which could turn out to be very bad in hurricane season. Tony, the scientists and the boat crew gathered on the deck to discuss their next option. Tony was in the middle of explaining his model and the data that Betty and Jane interpreted when sharp-eyed Clint started to elbow him. Before Tony could snap at him, Clint physically turned Tony’s head and directed him to look at the ocean.

There was something in the water swimming towards the boat. Not a dolphin, not a whale, not a tuna. Tony ran to the railings and held his breath. He snatched the binoculars out of Bruce’s hands and tried to see what was in the water. But the waves blocked his view. Tony’s hands were tightly grasping the railings. He hoped very much that it was Steve. When he saw the object surface from the water, he screamed out, “Steve!”

It was Steve, beautiful, angelic Steve. Whole and alive. Reaching for Tony. 

Maybe the scientists and the boat crew were shouting in joy and rubbing Tony’s shoulders, apologizing for not believing him. Maybe they were shouting at Steve, trying to touch his hands and letting him know how much they missed him. Tony didn’t know. His eyes were only for Steve. Gorgeous, vibrant, very much alive Steve. His eyes blurred from tears.

Steve signalled for the crane and boom. Someone winched him up. Tony watched as Steve swung his tail over the railings and balanced precariously. Tony ran up to steady him, but Steve shook his head and took Tony’s hand to touch what looked to be dogtags. The metallic rectangles turned hot and glowing under Tony’s fingers. Then Tony kissed Steve but after a minute Steve pushed him away. Tony stepped back in confusion. He gasped as a light surrounded Steve, transforming him from a merman into a human. A truly magnificent sight from head to toe, Steve stood as naked as he had been before, his skin wet and his smile proud. A troubled look crossed his face as he struggled with something.

“It’s okay, baby,” Tony said reassuringly. He was shocked. And more than a little intrigued by Steve’s new look. He kept his eyes on Steve’s face and his head out of the gutter.

Steve shook his head. He struggled a little more and then said in his new, wonderful voice, “Tony?” He even tried to take a step forward and just managed it.

Tony pulled him into his arms, amazed that he could look up into Steve’s blue eyes and that he could hold him so close. They stood there on deck hugging and then kissing with joy. They had so much to say to each other and the others had so many questions. But Clint ruined the mood by pointing out that Steve needed clothes. Or Tony and Steve had to find a room. ASAP.

“Clothes?” Steve asked Tony, his voice sounding out the strange word. 

“The price of being human and in the company of people is that they expect you to wear clothes,” Tony replied with a shrug. “I personally like you this way.” He got another eyeful of Steve, and if this went anywhere, clothing would be optional in their future. He grasped Steve’s hand and looked into his beautiful eyes. “Steve, tell me, is this transformation permanent?”

Steve thought for a minute. “No. I can shift back and forth. I can shift as long as my heart is strong.”

Tony didn’t think that this was the whole reason. “You mean something else?”

“As long I as feel love for you,” Steve said, lowering his head, looking embarrassed.

“Oh, Steve, I love you too,” Tony said. He threw his arms around Steve again and hugged him tightly. “You saved my life and I thought you had died.”

“I thought _you_ might have died, I was so worried,” Steve said, pressing a kiss on Tony’s forehead.

“I said that Steve could use some clothes, Stark. What’s the hold up?” Clint interrupted again, to the laughter of the scientists and boat crew.

Tony whispered into Steve’s ear, “Let’s go below decks and catch up.” Steve nodded, blushing. Tony was never going to get tired of that blush, ever. The color set Steve’s eyes off beautifully.

 

Excitedly, Tony left his office to find Steve to tell him the great news that he had secured another contract to investigate wreck sites around the Bahamas. He knew exactly where his merman shape-shifting boyfriend would be. As he made his way to the pool room, Tony thought back on the past few months. They had been the best months of his life, even with the usual ups and downs of living with someone and the occasional fight over what to watch on television, or who left their clothes all over the bedroom, or Steve’s insatiable love of sushi. Tony would not trade even the most miserable moment with Steve for any of the best moments from his life before Steve.

Tony opened the door to the pool room, decorated with Steve’s mosaics. And there was Steve, propped up in the heated pool and watching with great fascination the snow falling outside the windows against the New York skyline. Just starting to take drawing classes, Steve had a sketchbook with him for practice. Tony was not sure if he would ever find out how Steve managed to keep everything dry around water. 

“Hey there, beautiful.” Tony knelt down and greeted Steve with a kiss. “Guess who’s going back to the Bahamas in February?”

“You got the contract? Oh, that’s terrific, Tony,” Steve said joyfully. 

Tony rolled up his pants and swung his legs into the pool. All the floors in the luxury apartment were heated and Tony had picked up the habit of going barefoot from Steve. “You bet. After lunch, I’ll email folks to get the band back together and set the Love Boat of Science a-sail.” He nudged Steve with his toes.

Steve, with a sudden lustful gleam in his eye, pulled a yelping Tony down into the pool with him. Smiling into Steve’s kiss, Tony knew that the Love Boat of Science would be far, far, far more fun this time. 

And he couldn’t wait to share it with Steve.


End file.
